Woodlice

The Woodlice SAILS inquiry and assessment unit outlines an activity that is intended to aid students in learning about the environment, ecology, and animal behaviour. Students investigate the living conditions of woodlice, which are common in large parts of Europe and are easy to handle. Other small animals with similar habitats may also be used. The expected learning outcomes are: (1) learn to plan, perform and evaluate an experimental study, and (2) identify and explain ecological relationships using scientific concepts, models, and theories. These learning outcomes are part of the science curriculum at lower second level across Europe.

Skills emphasised for development and assessment include developing hypotheses and planning investigations (designing and conducting an experiment). Throughout the activities students will have opportunities to practice a range of other inquiry skills, such as collecting and interpreting data (planning investigations), drawing appropriate conclusions (forming coherent arguments), and reporting and discussing results (scientific reasoning). Suggested assessment tools are provided in the unit, but it is the teachers' choice to select what inquiry skills to develop and assess. This unit can be implemented over two lessons (45 minutes each).

The unit was trialled in Sweden, Poland, Ireland, Slovakia and Portugal, with students aged 12-16 years (8 classes in total, mixed ability and gender). Teaching approaches varied, for example in Ireland the teacher formed a guided inquiry, while in Poland the students engaged in open inquiry. In all case studies developing hypotheses was assessed, while assessment of other skills varied between case studies.

Unit booklet

Key content / concepts

Introduction to working with living animals
Living conditions
Animal behaviour

Level

Lower

Inquiry skills and competencies assessed

Planning investigations
Developing hypotheses
Forming coherent arguments
Working collaboratively
Scientific reasoning
Scientific literacy

Assessment methods

Classroom dialogue
Teacher observation
Self-assessment
Worksheets
Student devised materials
Presentations
Other assessment items

The Woodlice SAILS unit was developed by the team at Malmö University as a part of the SAILS project. This is proposed as an open inquiry activity, in which students are asked to investigate the living conditions of woodlice, which are common across Europe and easy to handle. This activity aids students in learning about the environment, ecology, and animal behaviour. The biology content in this unit is connected to carrying out investigations using living animals. Both ethical and practical issues can be considered. The expected learning outcomes are: (1) learn to plan, perform and evaluate an experimental study, and (2) identify and explain ecological relationships using scientific concepts, models, and theories.

This unit is particularly suitable for assessing developing hypotheses, planning investigations (planning and designing scientific experiments; drawing conclusions; explaining unexpected results; reporting, comparing, and discussing results, and providing suggestions about how to improve investigations. Three-level rubrics are proposed for assessing investigative skills – asking inquiry questions, developing hypotheses, planning investigations, carrying out an investigation, interpreting results and drawing conclusions, evaluating an investigation, documenting and discussing, observations and classification.

Below you can find the full inquiry and assessment unit for download, as well as an archive with classroom materials, including student worksheets and assessment tools for teachers to be used during the activities if available.

Unit booklet Classroom materials

Activity A: Woodlice

Concept focus	Investigating the living conditions of woodlice
Inquiry skills focus	Planning investigations Developing hypotheses Forming coherent arguments Working collaboratively
Scientific reasoning	Recording data and observations Drawing conclusions
Scientific literacy	Data analysis and presentation of results Critiquing experimental design
Assessment methods	Classroom dialogue Teacher observation Worksheets Student devised materials Presentations

Students are asked to obtain woodlice, or other creatures with similar habitats, and to investigate their preferred living conditions. The investigation can be entirely open, allowing the students an opportunity to develop hypotheses, plan investigations to test them, implement their investigations and analyse and interpret their results. Teachers can choose the skills to assess, and alter the implementation to suit their classrooms.

This unit was trialled in five countries, producing five case studies of its implementation – CS1 Sweden, CS2 Poland, CS3 Ireland, CS4 Slovakia and CS5 Portugal. The ages of the students involved were 12-16 years. Generally, the case studies describe 2-3 lesson periods of approximately 45 minutes. The most common method of implementation was to work in pairs or small groups, mixed with class discussions. A written report from the students was the most common student artefact to assess, even if performance-based assessment was possible.

This unit was developed as an open inquiry activity and allowed variation in its implementation depending on the class group. In CS1 Sweden, unit was implemented as a bounded inquiry. Students discussed in groups, and the teacher collected questions. After discussions there was an evaluation from the teacher. The students decided on questions to investigate and engaged in a follow up discussion at the end. CS4 Slovakia also used a bounded inquiry approach, in which students started by raising questions, before carrying out their investigation in small groups.

In CS2 Poland the unit was implemented as an entirely open inquiry. In the first lesson they discussed planning their investigations. Students selected investigation to study. Students planned, carried out and analysed results of the experiments entirely on their own, i.e. which animals, factors to investigate, how to collect evidence. Little direction was given by the teacher.

In both CS3 Ireland and CS5 Portugal, the teachers chose to use a guided inquiry approach. In CS3 Ireland, the students first engaged in an open discussion, then the teacher picked three options for students to investigate. In CS5 Portugal, a theoretical framework for the inquiry was established using images of ecosystems and an interactive discussion.

Within the five case studies, the inquiry skills of planning investigations and developing hypotheses were chosen for assessment in most cases. Teachers also assessed students’ skills in forming coherent arguments and working collaboratively and opportunities to develop and evaluate scientific reasoning and scientific literacy were identified. Assessment methods include teacher observation and classroom dialogue, as well as self-assessment of working collaboratively in CS5 Portugal and a post-implementation test in CS2 Poland. Student artefacts, such as worksheets, presentations or other student devised materials were evaluated in most case studies. The teachers used the rubrics provided in the original unit, with some modifications.

Below you can find the full inquiry and assessment unit for download (excluding the case studies), as well as an archive containing all the case studies.

Unit booklet Case studies

CS1 Sweden

Concept focus	Investigating the living conditions of woodlice
Activities implemented	Woodlice
Inquiry skills assessed	Planning investigations Developing hypotheses
Scientific reasoning	Recording data and observations
Scientific literacy	Critiquing experimental design
Assessment methods	Classroom dialogue Teacher observation Student devised materials
Level	Lower
Age	13
Prior experience with inquiry	No experience

This case study details implementation during three lesson periods. Students’ skill in developing hypotheses was assessed through classroom dialogue, while skill in planning investigations was assessed by teacher observation of students’ use of equipment. In the final lesson, students critiqued their experimental design and prepared a lab report, thus developing their scientific reasoning and scientific literacy. The teacher used a three-level assessment scale to evaluate student performance.

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CS2 Poland

Concept focus	Investigating the living conditions of woodlice (or other insects)
Activities implemented	Woodlice
Inquiry skills assessed	Planning investigations Developing hypotheses Forming coherent arguments
Scientific reasoning	Data entry Drawing conclusions
Scientific literacy	Data analysis and presentation of results
Assessment methods	Classroom dialogue Teacher observation Student devised materials Other assessment items
Level	Lower
Age	13
Prior experience with inquiry	No experience

In this case study, the students planned, carried out and analysed their investigations in groups, while the teacher observed their work process. Where students had difficulty obtaining woodlice, they instead used other insects or creatures such as earthworms. Skills assessed were planning investigations, carrying out an experiment, data analysis and presentation of results and drawing conclusions. The teacher modified the rubrics from the unit to reflect the Polish system of using a six-point assessment scale.

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CS3 Ireland

Concept focus	Investigating the living conditions of woodlice
Activities implemented	Woodlice
Inquiry skills assessed	Planning investigations Developing hypotheses
Assessment methods	Classroom dialogue Teacher observation Self-assessment Presentations
Level	Upper
Age	15-16
Prior experience with inquiry	Some experience

In this bounded inquiry, an open discussion on what living conditions woodlice like or prefer took place initially, after which students were given three possible variables to investigate in the next lesson – light, moisture and food. Students’ skill in developing hypotheses was assessed, in particular their ability to generate a question, make a prediction and form a testable hypothesis. Formative assessment took place on the fly, while student worksheets were assessed using a four-level rubric after the lesson.

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CS4 Slovakia

Concept focus	Investigating the living conditions of woodlice
Activities implemented	Woodlice
Inquiry skills assessed	Planning investigations Developing hypotheses Working collaboratively
Assessment methods	Classroom dialogue Teacher observation Presentations
Level	Lower

Prior experience with inquiry	Some experience

Skills assessed were planning investigations, developing hypotheses and working collaboratively, which were assessed based on teacher observation during class discussions. The teacher assessed the way students engaged in discussion and argumentation and used a four-level rubric to distinguish performance levels. The teacher provided feedback on what the students did well and explained where improvements could be made. The teacher also found that students welcomed feedback from their classmates and used this to improve their investigations.

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CS5 Portugal

Concept focus	Investigating the living conditions of snails, woodlice and a fungus
Activities implemented	Woodlice
Inquiry skills assessed	Developing hypotheses Working collaboratively
Assessment methods	Classroom dialogue Teacher observation Self-assessment Worksheets
Level	Lower
Age	13-14
Prior experience with inquiry	No experience

In this case study, students investigated the living conditions of snails, woodlice and a fungus – bread mould – over three lesson periods. Students developed hypotheses by discussing their ideas, and then planned investigations and tested their hypotheses. In the final lesson students completed their worksheets and performed self-assessment on their skill in working collaboratively. A further focus for assessment was on developing hypotheses. The teacher observed students throughout the activity, gave constant feedback, and assessed the final products.

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What are the living preferences of woodlice (or other creepy crawlies)?